Just in time for Christmas: Families greet soldiers' return

For many, the tears began flowing long before the door opened. They had driven long distances, waited several hours. But compared to 10 months, this was easy.

Around 2 p.m., someone let out a whoop, and a crack of sunlight appeared below a far wall. A giant hangar door began to rise, and the entire hall stood to cheer. A child shouted, "There he is!" Another cried out, "I can see him!" And the soldiers marched into view, beaming.

For more than 100 Upstate New York families Tuesday, the holidays came early.

The New York Army National Guard welcomed its first returning unit of the 27th Infantry Brigade -- known as Orion. The group, including 44 soldiers from Central New York, came home after 10 months in Afghanistan.

"It's almost surreal," said Master Sgt. David Montminy of North Syracuse, surrounded by family, as he hugged his two young sons. "It's hard to believe we're actually back."

Shortly after noon, a charter plane carrying the group touched down at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base. By then, the Thompson Road Armory had begun to fill with families and friends.

It was the first in a series of similar events that will occur over the next few months, as the 1,700-member Orion force comes home. That brigade includes about 500 soldiers from the Syracuse area.

Orion mobilized in January and three months later departed for Afghanistan to join a 7,400-member combat task force. Its soldiers performed all sorts of missions based around the goal of training and supporting the Afghan army and police.

As they awaited their soldiers, families spoke joyously of the moment.

"I'm so excited I'm ready to jump out of my skin," said Terry Chick, who drove five hours from Ohio to welcome home her brother, Sgt. Edward Briggs of Weedsport.

Chick was one of 11 family members on hand, and she said she nothing could have kept her away.

"I emailed him 436 times. He emailed me back 21," she said with a laugh. "He had an excuse. He was busy."

The soldiers will stay busy. They will return to their former lives, working jobs and raising families that were disrupted 12 months ago. Several spouses and parents stressed that they hoped to let normalcy return at its own pace. They intended to take it slow.

"He's had commands all the time that he's been in the military -- what to do and when to do it," said Norman Poirie, of Whitesboro, of his son Timothy. "For us, now, no commands."

After arriving in Syracuse, about 50 soldiers later boarded chartered buses to Buffalo, Rochester and Albany, where similar homecomings awaited.

In fact, as the soldiers' plane taxied on the runway, text messages buzzed on cell phones across the armory, alerting spouses to the status. Word spread as the soldiers moved through processing, and murmurs rose as the unit formed outside the armory.

Their 12-month wait was coming to end.

"What was the secret to this? It's simple," said Kareen Bready of Binghamton, one of 23 people in Montminy's welcoming party. "It's keeping the family together. It's saying close and communicating."

More than 23 hugs later, Montminy wiped away tears, surrounded by loved ones. He said he just couldn't wait to be home.

But he noted some unfinished business.

"We're not all back," Montminy said. "There are still quite a few of us over there. It'll be a better feeling when we're all back."